when governor romney said that, pointed that out to president obama in the debate, he was -- we had horses and bayonets, too. he seemed to make light of that. how important is it? can you give us a sense of the impact? >> i think the president's comment is showing his inexperience in military matters. in this particular case we are going down to 220 ships. to put that number in perspective, i had 2505 ships under my command in the pacific fleet's. 20 percent of those 220 ships will be the literal combat ships which basically have no offensive or defensive capability. we are going to be challenged where we show weakness. and let me give you an example. just today china announced effective january 1 they have authorized their paramilitary naval forces and their police to stop all vessels in the south china sea that they consider to be there illegally if they have not requested permission. this must be rejected in the most strongest terms. this hits at the core capability of international maritime law, freedom of transit, freedom of navigation rights. lou: we have not heard from the state dep